Interview Leon talks to GameBanshee

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Leonard Boyarsky; Troika Games

<A href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/">GameBanshee</a> has posted <A href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/troikagames.php">an interview</a> with <b>Leon Boyarsky</b> about the demise of <a href="http://www.troikagames.com">Troika</a>. Here's a bit about what might have been but wasn't:
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<blockquote><b>GB: Was there any interest in your post-apocalyptic tech demo? If you don't mind me asking, what sort of pitch/demo were you doing with the Half Life 2 engine?
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Leon:</b> We had some initial interest in our post apocalyptic game, but it was felt that it would have taken too long a dev cycle to develop the engine and then the game. We were hoping to do it in conjunction with another project with the same publisher to offset the development costs of the engine, but that deal fell through somewhere in the executive realm of the company we were talking to. The strangest thing for us was that we were in contact with a lot of development people who really wanted to work with us – producers, etc, but marketing and the execs are real wary of RPGs.
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We had two different demos we did with the HL2 engine. One was post apocalyptic and the other was more contemporary, kind of a follow up to Vampire (in terms of game mechanics, etc, but not the license) where we focused on what worked in Vampire and threw away what didn’t. </blockquote>
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CRPGs aren't low brow enough. Bring on more games featuring rappers, I guess!
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Thanks, <b>dojoteef</b>!
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[Trash]

Sigh...sad to see them gone. Another vampire (minus the pure combat end the first one was freaking brilliant) would've rocked, not to speak of the hl2 apoc game. Lets just hope Leon stays in the gameing bizz.

 

[Shagnak]

It's interesting reading these interviews; but I kinda feel guilty that I enjoy reading them.
I really wish things had worked out better.

But this sounds a little positive:

A few companies have approached us to ask what we’re doing, but we haven’t had any serious discussions with anyone yet.

I hope they jump at one of the chances that are given to them. It would be shame to lose (more?) design talent in the CRPG world.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

But this sounds a little positive:

A few companies have approached us to ask what we’re doing, but we haven’t had any serious discussions with anyone yet.

Or it could just be morbid curiosity, the kind people display in face of an accident on the freeway. They ask how the bleeding victim is doing, but they don't plan on getting him off of there.

 

[Deathboy]

What's a free way?

 

[Shagnak]

Oooohhhh, you cynic RP!!! :wink:

But you may be right (but I hope not)

Edit: its a way that just happens to be free, Deathboy. As in, you can steal it without any repurcussions :wink:

 

[Deathboy]

I was thinking it was like masturbating but I couldn't figure out where the blood came from...

 

[Surlent]

Leon: It’s all the damn publisher’s fault!!!

That line is classic.

 

[Volourn]

Great interview, and glad they took my side. It was Troika's fault. Game over.

Now, hopefully, they'll get off their ass and make some RPGs - I say they should join with Atari, Obsidian, or Bioware and all will be well.

 

[Stark]

Leon: It’s all the damn publisher’s fault!!!

That line is classic.

that line makes me suspect they actually do read our board.

hope Leon's talent doesn't go to waste. i hope he decides to stick around and make rpg game where his true passion lies.

 

[Talorc]

I wonder who owns the rights to the ToEE engine? Troika or Atari?

There has got to be some value in re-using the engine on a more "Content Rich" game, it was pretty neat. Its not like ToEE sales sucked ass - it was a pretty good engine tech demo really

Although I guess it is pretty useless without a D&D Licence to go with it, unless it gets some serious combat engine changes.

 

[FireWolf]

I dunno. When did RPGs become a niche market? Was a time when they were considered mainstream like RTS and FPS games. Now, publishers wont touch them for fear of poor revenues. Is it because gamers don't want to play complex games, or because the development cycle on RPGs is longer than the average FPS?

 

[Jiles]

I dunno. When did RPGs become a niche market? Was a time when they were considered mainstream like RTS and FPS games. Now, publishers wont touch them for fear of poor revenues. Is it because gamers don't want to play complex games, or because the development cycle on RPGs is longer than the average FPS?

RPG and indeed computer games in general were fairly niche when I started playing them.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Troika owns the TOEE engine but they don't own the game.

 

[Visbhume]

I've heard about a system called "d20", which seems to be a kind of open-source D&D (I might be grossly mistaken).

Could a d20-based CRPG get made ?

 

[Sol Invictus]

D&D is D20.

 

[Visbhume]

I meant: could a d20-based CRPG get made without paying for the license ? How different from regular D&D should be to get covered under the d20 license ?

 

[Volourn]

KOTOR was d20 and IIRC BIO or LA didn't have to pay licnesing fees. The same with KOTOR2.

 

[M0rphz0rz]

You can't just slap a d20 logo on a computer game. Funnily enough, the d20 Guide states that no covered product may be an interactive game. I quote: "The interactive game restriction exists because Wizards has an exclusive licensee for all interactive games. Authorizing other parties to make electronic games would violate the exclusive terms of that license."

So it's possible that BioWare and/or LucasArts actually had to pay licensing fees.

 

[Volourn]

Maybe; but it would be odd then why the WOTC logo isn't on the KOTOR box or case...

 

[dojoteef]

As far as I know, RPGs have always been a niche market.


As for the d20 system, I'm almost certain that KOTOR1/2 paid for that license. In order to use the d20 system you have to make sure that all the content is open for inspection by the users of the software. That means all the rules and game mechanics that are d20 have to be inspectable. That usually means having all that in plain text files that the game engine reads in. It seems to be quite a challenge to use the d20 system properly for software without paying for it.

Since KOTOR1/2 were both on Xbox, the gamers couldn't possibly have access to that information. That's what leads me to believe they had to pay for the rules.

Here's the FAQ from WOTC regarding the d20 system and Open Gaming License that goes with it.



Well nix what I said above. That isn't conclusive enough. Read this fucking quote from the FAQ:

Q: So I could make a game?

A: Sure. Remember though, you cannot use any Product Identity with the OGL or claim compatibility with anything. So you can't say your game is a d20 System game or uses D&D rules or call it ñElminster's Undermountain Crawl.î

Q: What is different if I use the d20 System License?

A: In addition to following all the rules of the OGL for any Open Content you use, the d20 System Guide doesn't let you describe the process for creating a character, describe the process for applying experience to a character, and cannot be an interactive game.

NOTE: Please pay attention to the section of the license that prohibits a Covered Product from being an interactive game. It is not enough to say your product isn't a game; the license gives a definition for what is considered to constitute an interactive game.

"Interactive Game": means a piece of software that is designed to accept inputs from human players or their agents, and use rules to resolve the success or failure of those inputs, and return some indication of the results of those inputs to the users.

This includes the obvious examples of attacking in combat, saving throws, and skill checks, but also includes dice rolling for character ability scores and hit points and rolling for damage. Why? Because in the d20 System a higher number is almost always better. Rolling an 18 for strength is obviously a preferable outcome to rolling a 3. In any circumstance where one outcome is quantifiably better than another is considered by Wizards to be an indication of success or failure; the software cannot perform these kinds of operations without breaching the license.

Q: Why can't I use those things in my program?

A: No d20 System Product can include rules for character creation or applying experience. In exchange for using the d20 logo you are prohibited from making a product that replaces the core rulebooks. Covered Products supplement the core rulebooks; they may not replace them. That is why all Covered Products must state that they require the use of the core rules.

The interactive game restriction exists because Wizards has an exclusive licensee for all interactive games. Authorizing other parties to make electronic games would violate the exclusive terms of that license.

EDIT: Damn. Beat me to the punch!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

KOTOR was d20 and IIRC BIO or LA didn't have to pay licnesing fees. The same with KOTOR2.

Once again, the Volourn Theory holds true.

 

[Volourn]

I agree with that Dojo which is why I said I;m surprise that the WOTC logo isn';t on the box and there was no mnetion of licensing fees being apid either as you'd think according to the FAQ you gave; there'd have to be.

 

[Greatatlantic]

I was under the impression that the KotOR games were designed with a pre-existing Star Wars PnP scheme, for which there are a ton of source books for. Or, thats what one poster told me at gamefaqs when I said the KotOR character scheme was like a dumbed down Neverwinter Nights.

 

[Volourn]

Yes, it was. The pnp SW scheme is based on d20 rules which is exactly why it does play exactly like a dumbed down NWN. Bioware didn't even try to recreate the SW pnp rules as it has tons of classes, races, feats, and skills.

R00fles!